feat(#1549): copy files between multiple nvim instances by Uanela · Pull Request #3336 · nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua

Uanela · 2026-06-14T23:05:36Z

Hello @alex-courtis this is simply a variation of what we've been discussing at #3334 I just wanted to show it in practice and is btw the thing that I've been dogfooding, I am thinking in even adding option to download a file directly when an url is on the register (maybe for my own locally if this is too nichy).

Changes

1 - gy - remains as it is, and now supports visual operation which copies a list of comma separated absolute paths
2 - gp - this is used to paste while copying
3 - gx - this is used to paste while cutting.

2026-06-15.00-39-13.mp4

…e_path

Uanela · 2026-06-14T23:47:52Z

Added gp to automatically download when find a ^http, currently is just local on my machine.

…rotocol

alex-courtis

This is looking great, only minor changes required.

Please:

handle spaces etc. in register as per gp test case, moving to a newline delimited format as per "standard" with newlines between files, but not after the last file
move Node:get_basename to Clipboard

Test cases:

gy

copy one /home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap
visual copy /home/alex/src/linux/.pylintrc,/home/alex/src/linux/.rustfmt.toml
copy root /home/alex/src/linux/
~~visual copy root and other nodes~~
root is not copied, however that's OK. This is existing behaviour and arguably a feature, as copying root and other files makes no sense.

ge

copy one .mailmap
visual copy .pylintrc,.rustfmt
copy root linux
~~visual copy root and other nodes, ok, see above~~

gp

paste one /home/alex/src/linux/MAINTAINERS
paste many /home/alex/src/linux/COPYING,/home/alex/src/linux/CREDITS
FAIL - paste with spaces /home/alex/src/linux/CREDITS, /home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild, /home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig
[NvimTree] Could not copy /home/alex/src/linux/CREDITS - ENOENT
paste one inexistent /home/alex/src/linux/xxx
[NvimTree] Could not copy /home/alex/src/linux/xxx - ENOENT
paste many, one inexistent /home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/xxx,/home/alex/src/linux/MAINTAINERS
[NvimTree] Could not copy /home/alex/src/linux/xxx - ENOENT
others copied correctly
paste mixed nodes and directories /home/alex/src/linux/zzz/,/home/alex/src/linux/aaa

gx

Test cases as per gp
Multiple source removed when in same instance /home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig,/home/alex/src/linux/MAINTAINERS
Multiple source removed in other instance in the same directory /home/alex/src/linux/.clang-format,/home/alex/src/linux/.clippy.toml

alex-courtis · 2026-06-17T00:32:48Z

 end

+function Node:get_basename()
+  if self.name == ".." then


On further reflection, changing the ".." makes me nervous. Yes it's legacy, however it is present in many places in Clipboard hence we shouldn't change it when building this feature.

Let's keep it localised - please move this method to Clipboard so that it doesn't spread to other functionality.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-17T00:39:18Z

I am thinking in even adding option to download a file directly when an url is on the register (maybe for my own locally if this is too nichy).

That would be great, I have some use cases for it. Out of scope, future PR please :)

alex-courtis · 2026-06-17T01:00:01Z

Wild and crazy idea after reading comments on previous PR:

Remove `gp`: `p` can handle all the cases

If there are files copied or cut in the current instance, paste them as per original Clipboard:paste()
Else if the system/register clipboard contains files, paste them as per use_register = true

`Clipboard:copy()` and `:cut()` copy to system clipboard

These methods should also work as per gy, copying absolute paths to the system/register clipboard

This is something I've tried to do many times - c a file in one instance and p into another, which of course fails.

`gx`

This is a niche case, however would need to be retained: we don't have any information in the clipboard to identify cut vs paste hence it must be explicit.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-17T01:34:05Z

I finally installed the gnome file manager nautilus and inspected the clipboard mime types when copying multiple files:

: ; wl-paste --list-types
x-special/gnome-copied-files
text/plain;charset=utf-8
text/uri-list
application/vnd.portal.filetransfer
application/vnd.portal.files


: ; wl-paste --type text/plain\;charset=utf-8
/home/alex/src/linux/.gitattributes
/home/alex/src/linux/.gitignore
/home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap


: ; wl-paste --type text/uri-list
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitattributes
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitignore
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap


: ; wl-paste --type application/vnd.portal.filetransfer
10924863569610452011%


: ; wl-paste --type application/vnd.portal.files
11848482484090875390%


: ; wl-paste --type x-special/gnome-copied-files
copy
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitattributes
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitignore
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap%

: ;

Today I think we should at least match the text/plain standard - use newline delimited files instead of comma delimited. Note that there is no newline at the end of the last file. Spaces are not escaped.

text/uri-list is interesting and something that we could do in the future, however I'm not sure how easy or possible it is to set the mime type is within Nvim.

x-special/gnome-copied-files is completely gnome specific, however it inspires the possibly of something like x-special/nvim-tree-copied-files, which we could use to specify the copy/cut operation. Maybe not so useful.

For reference, this is what a gy results in:

: ; wl-paste --list-types
text/plain
text/plain;charset=utf-8
TEXT
STRING
UTF8_STRING

: ; wl-paste --type UTF8_STRING
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type TEXT
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type STRING
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type text/plain
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type text/plain\;charset=utf-8
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ;

KDE dolpin operates similarly except that it does not copy text/plain

Uanela · 2026-06-17T04:29:32Z

Wild and crazy idea after reading comments on previous PR:

Remove gp: p can handle all the cases

If there are files copied or cut in the current instance, paste them as per original Clipboard:paste()

Else if the system/register clipboard contains files, paste them as per use_register = true

Clipboard:copy() and :cut() copy to system clipboard

These methods should also work as per gy, copying absolute paths to the system/register clipboard

This is something I've tried to do many times - c a file in one instance and p into another, which of course fails.

gx

This is a niche case, however would need to be retained: we don't have any information in the clipboard to identify cut vs paste hence it must be explicit.

Makes total sense removing gp and making c and x take text to register.

The only thing is that x would still mean nothing, only when gx it would cut. Or maybe let gp to mean paste while cutting bc to some extent gx sounds like cut paths bc of gy, or even xp or something else.

Uanela · 2026-06-17T04:32:34Z

I finally installed the gnome file manager nautilus and inspected the clipboard mime types when copying multiple files:
: ; wl-paste --list-types
x-special/gnome-copied-files
text/plain;charset=utf-8
text/uri-list
application/vnd.portal.filetransfer
application/vnd.portal.files


: ; wl-paste --type text/plain\;charset=utf-8
/home/alex/src/linux/.gitattributes
/home/alex/src/linux/.gitignore
/home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap


: ; wl-paste --type text/uri-list
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitattributes
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitignore
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap


: ; wl-paste --type application/vnd.portal.filetransfer
10924863569610452011%


: ; wl-paste --type application/vnd.portal.files
11848482484090875390%


: ; wl-paste --type x-special/gnome-copied-files
copy
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitattributes
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.gitignore
file:///home/alex/src/linux/.mailmap%

: ;
Today I think we should at least match the text/plain standard - use newline delimited files instead of comma delimited. Note that there is no newline at the end of the last file. Spaces are not escaped.

text/uri-list is interesting and something that we could do in the future, however I'm not sure how easy or possible it is to set the mime type is within Nvim.

x-special/gnome-copied-files is completely gnome specific, however it inspires the possibly of something like x-special/nvim-tree-copied-files, which we could use to specify the copy/cut operation. Maybe not so useful.

For reference, this is what a gy results in:
: ; wl-paste --list-types
text/plain
text/plain;charset=utf-8
TEXT
STRING
UTF8_STRING

: ; wl-paste --type UTF8_STRING
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type TEXT
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type STRING
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type text/plain
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ; wl-paste --type text/plain\;charset=utf-8
/home/alex/src/linux/Kbuild,/home/alex/src/linux/Kconfig

: ;
KDE dolpin operates similarly except that it does not copy text/plain

That's great.

The unique problem usinf this approach is that it will resamble protocol and hence we won't be able to paste from anywhere else by simply grabbing the absolute path and vice-versa maybe.

This would suite better if we kept bgy to use protocol and keep gy as it is (only add the newline support), because if I visually gy I expect a list of absolute paths not nvim-tree specific thing.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-17T04:41:25Z

The only thing is that x would still mean nothing, only when gx it would cut. Or maybe let gp to mean paste while cutting bc to some extent gx sounds like cut paths bc of gy, or even xp or something else.

Yeah that's a tricky one, there's no "natural" option. I'm easy for any mapping, however we can't do xp as x is taken.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-17T04:44:15Z

This would suite better if we kept bgy to use protocol and keep gy as it is (only add the newline support), because if I visually gy I expect a list of absolute paths not nvim-tree specific thing.

Yes, let's just go with newlines for now. This branch is working.

We can add a protocol in the future :)
Remember that we can "break" this in the future as we're defining communication between nvim-tree instances which is not API.

Uanela · 2026-06-17T05:30:01Z

This would suite better if we kept bgy to use protocol and keep gy as it is (only add the newline support), because if I visually gy I expect a list of absolute paths not nvim-tree specific thing.

Yes, let's just go with newlines for now. This branch is working.

We can add a protocol in the future :)
Remember that we can "break" this in the future as we're defining communication between nvim-tree instances which is not API.

The protocol will break OS level operation, which I think is one of the biggest win for this.

And yes protocol would make this nvim specific but I think it would be cooler to make it work anywhere.

Changes To Be Made

Add register operation on c and x
Add multline support
Remove gx in favor of gp to mean paste while cutting. This avoids ambiguity as p will operate locally and between instances
Make p decide whether use the clipboard or the register

Together with those mentioned earlier.

… work in visual mode

…data or register data

Uanela · 2026-06-18T09:00:46Z

All changes made and all test passing.

Concern

I c on instance B (it also triggers register, easy to warn on next update) and then go to instance A and c again (erases B thing in register and adds it's content) then I go back to instance B and do p it will paste what is in clipboard because I didn't remove it basically I will need first to clear the clipboard (there ain't no keymaps only api) and then p to paste from instance A. Is kind a GOTCHA moment but maybe is to wrap head around.

Additional changes made, mostly refactor

Unified all node attribute copying function to clipboard.copy_node_attribute(n, attribute) so that all 4 could easily be handled with node or nodes
Made all copy.basename|filename|path|absolute_path work on visual mode

alex-courtis · 2026-06-20T00:43:19Z

And yes protocol would make this nvim specific but I think it would be cooler to make it work anywhere.

We could do both eventually - continue to put the files in the text/plain and also put into x-special/nvim-tree-copied-files and text/uri-list for full interoparability with everything.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-20T00:46:19Z

I c on instance B (it also triggers register, easy to warn on next update) and then go to instance A and c again (erases B thing in register and adds it's content) then I go back to instance B and do p it will paste what is in clipboard because I didn't remove it basically I will need first to clear the clipboard (there ain't no keymaps only api) and then p to paste from instance A. Is kind a GOTCHA moment but maybe is to wrap head around.

I don't think there's much we can do about that, which is kind of an edge case. It does work as described for the base cases, and multiple copies (especially cuts) like this will likely "break" most applications.

alex-courtis

This is looking fantastic. It feels just right to copy between.

Existing test cases look good, and I can successfully paste from gnome now!!!

Please:

New test cases:

Needs Fixing - Multiple Copy

Directory with files a b c d

Multiple Single Copies

Normal copy a

a marked in green

Clip OK:

/home/alex/src/linux/foo/a

Normal copy b

a and b marked in green

Clip missing a:

/home/alex/src/linux/foo/b

Multiple Visual Copy Toggling

Visual Copy a and b

a and b marked in green

Clip OK:

/home/alex/src/linux/foo/a
/home/alex/src/linux/foo/b

Visual Copy b and c

a and c marked in green

Clip Incorrect:

/home/alex/src/linux/foo/b
/home/alex/src/linux/foo/c

In both cases it looks like we need to put the final contents of clipboard.data into the clipboard, not the visual operation nodes.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-20T01:08:29Z

+---Paste nodes from the system register as files to nvim-tree while copying.
+---
+---@param node_or_nodes? nvim_tree.api.Node | nvim_tree.api.Node[]
+function nvim_tree.api.fs.paste_from_register_copying(node_or_nodes) end


Do we still need these two? They don't appear to be used. p does the job now :)

alex-courtis · 2026-06-20T01:08:46Z

 ---@field remove_file? nvim_tree.config.actions.remove_file

-
-


I'm guessing the style tooling fixed this.

alex-courtis · 2026-06-20T02:43:39Z

+  local node_attribute_getters = {
+    basename = function(n) return self:get_node_basename(n) end,
+    filename = function(n) return self:get_node_filename(n) end,
+    relative_path = function(n) return self:get_node_relative_path(n) end,
+    absolute_path = function(n) return self:get_node_absolute_path(n) end,
+  }


I really appreciate the care and effort you've made with this refactor, however:

it obfuscates the flow of control: it's no longer easy to "LSP References" get_node_relative_path to map it directly to API/impl

it's doesn't appear necessary to achieve the goal of copy between instances

Let's limit the scope of this change to the minimum required to achieve the functionality: atomic changes.

It ensures that we can look at git history and identify what was the new functionality and what was a refactor.

In the case of a problem it allows us to identify whether the problem was the functionality or the refactor.

Allows reverting/reapplying of individual changes in the event of an issue, instead of having to revert the larger change

I'm always open to refactors and polishing, however please raise separate PRs for them.

Thanks for the alert @alex-courtis, should I open a dedicated refactor PR? (I think know from the points you brought).

I just tried to automate to because I was making all of them to support visual mode. Should I simply drop the visual support also, or maybe another PR right away?

…rotocol

Uanela added 17 commits June 11, 2026 10:07

feat: add copy absolute path with protocol into public api

ddbc033

feat: add helper get_basename into node

c842a08

feat: add gby keymap, and allow visual mode for copy.basename|absolut…

058e508

…e_path

feat(clipboard): add opts for adding protocol in reg operations

89edce6

feat(api): allow visual operation in absolute_path*

b98e0c4

feat: add paste with protocol to keymap+api

f2269a1

feat: add paste with protocol to clipboard

cdc7b28

feat: add configurable clipboard protocol

38ada46

fix: filter descendant nodes on copy_absolute_path_with_protocol

b9e9b7a

refactor: change clip protocol keymaps to bgy and bgp

877e726

wip

885b4d9

fix(clipboad): correctly show the number of copied nodes on bgy

2c56cc6

chore: remove bgy, bgp and add gp + gx

77325e5

chore: update api/fs.lua and api impl.lua to match new keymaps

a9253de

fix: correctly pass the function to new keymaps

0fd8cfa

chore: remove use_protocol and use use_register + cut options

073fac1

chore: update docs

27f5254

Uanela changed the title ~~Variation of #3334~~ feat: variation of #3334 Jun 14, 2026

alex-courtis mentioned this pull request Jun 15, 2026

feat(#1549): copy files between multiple vim instances #3334

Closed

Merge branch 'master' into chore/remove-operation-between-instances-p…

43f01b5

…rotocol

alex-courtis requested changes Jun 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

Uanela changed the title ~~feat: variation of #3334~~ feat(#1549): copy files between multiple nvim instances Jun 18, 2026

Uanela added 8 commits June 18, 2026 08:23

chore: move node:get_basename to cliboard_

4f787e0

chore(clipboard): remove vim.cmd workaround in favor of vim.fn.setreg

a7e647b

chore: use newline as separator instead of comma

ba8e7a1

refactor(clipboard): simplify copying node attribute and allow all to…

f79cdcb

… work in visual mode

refactor(keymap): remove gx, use gp to move

356c083

feat(clipboard): always copy/cut to register and make p pick local …

6f1b818

…data or register data

refactor(docs): update api docs and rename paste_while_cutting to move

887e6c1

fix: correctly format keymaps

859f733

chore: regenerate docs

b1662a5

Uanela requested a review from alex-courtis June 18, 2026 09:06

Uanela mentioned this pull request Jun 18, 2026

feat: add feature to download from url when p from register #3339

Open

alex-courtis reviewed Jun 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'master' into chore/remove-operation-between-instances-p…

5eba88e

…rotocol

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Uanela commented Jun 14, 2026

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gy

ge

gp

gx

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alex-courtis commented Jun 17, 2026

Remove gp: p can handle all the cases

Clipboard:copy() and :cut() copy to system clipboard

gx

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Uanela commented Jun 17, 2026

Remove gp: p can handle all the cases

Clipboard:copy() and :cut() copy to system clipboard

gx

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Changes To Be Made

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Concern

Additional changes made, mostly refactor

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Needs Fixing - Multiple Copy

Multiple Single Copies

Multiple Visual Copy Toggling

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Remove `gp`: `p` can handle all the cases

`Clipboard:copy()` and `:cut()` copy to system clipboard

`gx`

alex-courtis commented Jun 17, 2026 •

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Remove `gp`: `p` can handle all the cases

`Clipboard:copy()` and `:cut()` copy to system clipboard

`gx`

Uanela commented Jun 17, 2026 •

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